Former War Zones in Sri Lanka Left Struggling
As Jaffna continues its steady return to normalcy, the rest of the North and parts of the East of the country are still struggling to get over the wounds of the 30-year…
Year: 2013
A Lenten Reflection by Bishop Duleep de Chickera
EVOLUTIONARY DECLINE AND THE ASCENT OF HUMAN RESILIENCE The weeks leading to Independence Day on February 4 were filled with intense debate on the legality and morality of the impeachment of the…
The state of media in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Dilrukshi Handunnetti is currently Senior Deputy Editor, . We begin by going into why after years as a journalist, Dilrukshi joined Transparency International for a few years to advocacy for many of…
The Numbers Never Lie: A Quick Look at Sri Lanka’s LLRC Progress
The administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa won the ethnic war, but Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict is more alive than ever. There is a lot of talk about how the situation in the…
Dead men do tell tales
Photo courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian Watching the current commentary on the mass grave in Matale “There are allegations that the bodies are those of victims of a small pox outbreak from a…
Issues of Divergence and Contestation: Some Reflections on the Concept of Halal
Photo by AFP’s Ishara S Kodikara, via ABC “Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumour; nor upon what is in a scripture;…
Why do Sri Lankan ‘patriots’ love Social Polarisation?
Photo by AFP, via Sri Lanka Brief Since the end of war in 2009, Sri Lanka has become a country full of zealots and patriots singing the song of country first, religion…
A Tale of Two Countries
Image from Niti Central “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch…
Urban wetlands park plays host to Army tank
Urban Development Authority (UDA) has seen fit to place a used army tank there for everyone to see. Every evening, as the park fills up, people clamour to get an up close…
Stratfor and Sri Lanka: An initial study of ‘The Global Intelligence Files’
and Wikileaks was a more specific piece, that looked at the drafting process of official statements in general by the US Government and in particular, a statement by the US State Department…
Lady in Green
I am travelling from Colombo to the United States. Who doesn’t like a change of pace? There will also be additional passport stamps. While I consider myself a pretty well-stamped man, one…
A brief note on Buddhism, Ethnicity, and Peace
A walk through the archeological and artistic ruins in the North central province is not complete without a stop by the Sandakada pahana (the moonstone) that gives an artistic depiction of the…
Who needs Halaal?
When the big international fast food chains came to Sri Lanka they did not have halaal certification. However subsequently most of these chains went ‘halaal’. This had nothing to do with any…
A former Ambassador speaks out: Interview with Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
In his first interview for public television in Sri Lanka upon his return to the country after his stint as Ambassador to France and UNESCO in Paris, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka talked about…
Civil Society Organisations Condemn Anti Muslim Rhetoric and Attacks in Sri Lanka
Image taken from Protect the Buddhism – බුදු දහම ආරක්ෂාකරමු Facebook group. In recent months there has been an increased outpouring of virulent anti-Muslim sentiment by persons claiming to speak for all Sinhala Buddhists….